


Trick or Treat (But Make It Sweet)

by brightblackholes



Category: Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Trick or Treating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27322732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightblackholes/pseuds/brightblackholes
Summary: Billy spends his first Halloween with his family.
Relationships: Billy Batson & Darla Dudley, Billy Batson & Freddy Freeman, Billy Batson & Rosa Vasquez, Billy Batson & Victor Vasquez
Comments: 8
Kudos: 53





	Trick or Treat (But Make It Sweet)

**Author's Note:**

> I actually started this fic a year ago, reread it yesterday, and decided to quickly give it an ending and post it. Sometimes I forget how much I love this family, but they're really so fun to write for. Hope you enjoy!

Billy should have realized that Freddy would really get into Halloween, to the extent that he starts planning his costume in August. While Mary gets moved in to college with the promise to visit whenever she can (and by whatever means possible, she says with a wink, seeing as they’re all also super fast heroes who can fly), Freddy starts peppering Billy with questions about what he’s going to wear, and which one of Freddy’s ideas for his own costume is best, and whether or not they could just get away with transforming into their alter egos and going like that.

“Dude, I don’t know. I can't remember actually going trick or treating before.”

“ _ What?!” _ Freddy nearly screeches. Billy is glad that they’re having this conversation at home and not in the school hallway.

_ Home _ . It’s a comfortable thought by now.

“I never really had a place that I stayed long enough to plan for it, and my other foster parents weren’t overly willing to turn me loose on the town given previous behavior.”

Freddy splutters for a moment.

“This is the year, Billy! You’re going trick or treating with us!”

“Dude, aren’t we a bit old for trick or treating?”

“Someone has to take Darla and Eugene!” Freddy says. “Besides, disabled foster kid. I could go trick or treating when I’m fifty and neighbors would still give me candy.”

Freddy talks to Victor and Rosa about it as they’re decorating the front of the house, meaning that he’s standing back directing and everyone else is doing the manual labor. It’s October 1st exactly, and they’re still going to have to rake up the leaves that are hanging on to the tree, but Freddy had insisted that the plastic gravestones and fake cobwebs get set up anyway.

“I think that sounds like a great idea,” Rosa says, currently up on a ladder to hang fake cobwebs from the roof. “Billy, did you agree to this?”

Freddy sputters indignantly. He does a lot of sputtering, and Billy likes laughing about it.

“Yeah, I did,” he says.

“Then I don’t see why not. You and Freddy can take Darla and Eugene around the neighborhood. That way, we can hold down the house with Pedro,” Victor says.

“Yes!” Freddy cheers. Billy rolls his eyes, but admits to himself that he’s a little excited, too.

-/-

Once it’s confirmed that Billy will be joining in on trick or treating, Freddy goes all in on figuring out costumes. Darla wants to be a forest fairy princess, Eugene wants to be a video game character that Billy hasn’t actually heard of before, and Freddy has been working hard on a meticulously accurate Luke-Skywalker-from-the-opening-of-Episode-VI costume.

“Halloween is about getting to be something you aren’t. I’m already a superhero, so I can’t go as one for Halloween,” Freddy says when Billy questions why he isn’t going as Batman or some other hero he gushes about continuously. He gives the same explanation to Darla when she asks why Billy can’t just go as his alter ego.

“So who am I supposed to go as?” Billy asks.

“Who do you want to be?” Freddy asks. Billy shrugs.

“You could be a vampire! Or a doctor! Or Santa! Or a puppy! Or--”

“Okay, Darla,” Billy says, pulling her into a hug and muffling her talking against his stomach. “Let me think about it a bit.”

“Really though, you should figure out your Halloween costume stat. We need the proper amount of time to gather materials and piece it together,” Freddy says after they’ve turned the light off that night, right as Billy is about to fall asleep.

“I don’t know, dude. I’ll get back to you in the morning.”

Billy doesn’t end up getting back to Freddy in the morning, or the next morning, or the morning after that. When Halloween is a mere week away, Freddy sits him down at the dining room table and pulls out an actual list of costumes that would be easy to whip up but that he still deems acceptable.

“You have to pick one. I can’t be seen wandering the neighborhood with someone who’s costume sucks.”

“These suggestions suck,” Billy says as he scans the page.

“Hey!”

“I don’t want to go as a vampire or some random protagonist of a CW show.”

“Billy, we have one week until Halloween! You gotta come up with a costume, man.”

“Billy!” Darla calls from the living room. “Billy can you help me?”

“Duty calls,” Billy says, standing.

“Wait, Billy! You can’t just--you have to make a decision!”

Darla is beaming at him from the living room floor, her costume spread out in front of her and a canister of green glitter in her hand. It’s a green dress with added ruffles, tulle and artificial flowers sprouting from it. She has a pair of delicate wings that Rosa has forbidden her from messing with until Halloween, and Billy is pretty sure there’s a tiara or other headpiece involved.

“Can you help me add more glitter to my costume?”

The last thing that he wants to do is get glitter all over everything, but Darla is looking at him with big eyes and these days it’s hard to say no to her.

“Thank you so much Billy! I’m so glad you’re coming trick or treating with us. I like having you there, because you’re wonderful and brave and make me feel safe. I also like having Freddy there, because he’s so energetic and kind and I know he…”

Billy lets her voice fade into the background as he gets out the fabric glue and starts attaching glitter in swirls. Darla talks almost continuously, like she has to make up for Pedro’s brevity six times over. At this point, it’s soothing background noise, allowing Billy to focus better when she chatters away than in silence.

“There,” Billy says once there physically isn’t room for more glitter on her costume. “Now you’re the best fairy princess in all of the land.”

“Thank you, Billy!” Darla squeals, hugging him. “Maybe you can be a fairy knight for Halloween!”

Billy doesn’t want to wear something with that much glitter, and he doesn’t exactly have the time to throw leaves on whatever would be considered a fairy knight costume, anyway.

Maybe she’s onto something, though.

“Hey Darla,” he says, “a fairy princess is a super important person. Do you think they have bodyguards?”

Darla lights up. A costume idea is vaguely taking shape in Billy’s mind, and he leaves to find Rosa and see if it can be done.

-/-

Billy waits until Freddy is ready and by the door to retreat to their room to change. He has dress pants that Rosa and Victor got him earlier in the year, and they managed to find a black blazer that fits. The sunglasses might be harder to see through at night, but they look really cool, especially with the earpiece they managed to find. It’s not connected to anything, but it completes the look, and that’s what matters here.

Billy makes his way to the front door and tries not to crack a smile at the widely contrasting looks Darla and Freddy give him.

“Who are you supposed to be?” Freddy asks. His Luke Skywalker costume looks really good, but Billy can’t comment on it yet. He’s in character now.

“I’m here to protect the fairy princess,” he says. Then, he turns to Darla and bows. “I’m honored to be of service as your personal bodyguard, your highness.”

Darla curtseys.

“Thanks, Billy!”

“Have fun,” Rosa says, coming forward to press a kiss to his hair. It’s still a little weird when she does that, like it’s a motherly compulsion she can’t shake even though he’s a teenager and hasn’t been her kid for even a full year yet, but he likes it.

“Be safe,” Victor says. “Don’t stay out too late! We’ll have candy for you and Freddy when you get back.”   


“Thanks,” Freddy says, getting his own kiss from Rosa and squirming away. “Can we go now? Eugene, Darla, you ready?”

“I’ve been ready,” Eugene says. “I wanted to leave five minutes ago.”

“Ready!” Darla says. They set off into the night, joining the dozens of other kids and supervisors trying to get candy and show off their costumes. Billy makes a show of checking around dark corners in order to be sure there’s nothing nefarious hiding there that would wish harm on a fairy princess, and soon he manages to get Freddy and Eugene in on it, too, with all of them becoming Darla’s personal defense team. Some of the parents giving them candy think it’s cute. Freddy pretends to use the force and Eugene runs through his character’s gambit of fighting movies while Darla uses magic and pretends she can fly.

(Maybe they’ll sneak out and actually fly a little bit later tonight. With the amount of candy that Eugene is eating while they walk, they’ll all probably be up for a while anyway.)

Freddy mapped out their route a week ago, planning for how long it would conceivably take to walk and which houses offered the best candy last year. They follow his path meticulously, and by the time Billy is itching to get out of the suit again and everyone except Freddy is lagging a bit, they’re back at their house. Freddy rings the doorbell, and they make Pedro give them candy before entering. Darla and Eugene immediately head to the table and dump out their bags, trading candies they don’t like between them.

“How was it?” Victor asks as Billy takes off the glasses and earpiece.

“Good,” Billy says, and he’s a little surprised to discover that he means it. Honestly, being forced into a costume, babysitting two of his siblings, and watching them get candy was not on his top list of experiences he was looking forward to. He didn’t really participate in Halloweens before this, although he thinks he did get the chance to be a pirate once and a cowboy another time, so the magic of wearing a costume and pretending to be someone else is lost on him. Besides, if he wanted to do that, he could just change into Shazam.

Still, it was fun to be able to become a protector in a much more low-stakes environment. It was fun to make Darla laugh and to see Eugene and Freddy clearly enjoying themselves alongside her. He liked the comments that Freddy made on every costume they saw, and Eugene’s judgement on the candy quality.

“Thanks,” Billy says, and he hopes Victor hears that he’s thanking him for more than just tonight. Yeah, he’s grateful that they helped him throw together a costume and he got to have a little Halloween experience for his own, but he’s also thankful for the family they gave him. He’s thankful that he has somewhere to call home after a night of ringing other people’s doorbells.

Victor puts a hand on his shoulder. “You’re welcome,” he says, and he gets it. Billy gives him a smile.

“You might want to get over to the table before Freddy takes all the good candy,” Victor says, and Billy turns to see Rosa holding a plastic bag of assorted candy out of Freddy’s reach, telling him to wait and to divide it fairly. Billy rolls his eyes.

“Hey,” he calls. “Leave some for me.”

Freddy starts bickering. Darla starts offering from her own stockpile, which Eugene tries to surreptitiously sneak pieces from.

Billy sits back and watches. He thinks that every future Halloween is going to have a hard time beating this one.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated.


End file.
